


I Will Not Run

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Scarred Souls [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's not much to do while waiting for the change of guards on the gate, so Paul offers to help watch for signs someone's followed him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Not Run

She didn't say much after that, offering him a chunk of bread and some dried strips of meat along with a skin of watered wine. He watched her as she prowled the inside of the rough circle of tumbled stones, always watching the horizon, slowing with the sun to her back as she looked out, her expression wary and watchful.

"What are you watching for?" He didn't move from where he was, though he itched to move, to do something. To help, if he knew what he was helping to watch for.

"The gate through the void is towards the setting sun from here." Aisla scanned the horizon again, staying near one of the taller blocks of stone. "I am one of those who keep a watch over it, to keep the demons away from our people."

Paul frowned, standing to walk to where she stood, looking out over a weed-choked road that led over the ridge that obscured the horizon. "What does it look like?"

"It's beyond the ridge, a perfect circle of stone stood upright, higher than two men stood one on another's shoulders." Aisla glanced over at him. "If there is trouble, my first duty is to ensure you don't fall back into the hands of the demons."

He nodded, his eyes scanning over the ridge, absently noting what appeared to be an outcropping that could be artificial as easily as it could be natural. That there was a second one roughly the same distance on the other side of the dip where the road passed over the ridge suggested it wasn't a natural occurance.

"How far is is to the ridge?" He glanced over at Aisla, his brow furrowing a little. "From the other side?"

"As far as from here to the ridge." Aisla moved from the stone she'd been standing at, pacing around the inside of the circle until the rising sun was to her right, lifting a hand to point out something in the distance. "There are caves in the hills there, leading through to the valleys where the people bring the sheep to summer pastures. It is a hard run, but not impossible."

Paul shaded his eyes, trying to judge the distance to the line of hills she indicated, with slopes cloaked in the dark green of trees. Shelter from prying eyes, where they could ambush enemies that were too many to stop at the ridge. If they followed them there, instead of fortifying the ruins they stood in now.

"I won't run." He dropped his hand, looking over at Aisla, not certain where the refusal to flee an enemy came from, only that it was there, and it felt right. Felt like it was a part of him. "What can I do to help?"

* * *

Paul watched the sky as the light faded behind the mountains, brilliant reds and oranges outlining the jagged peaks giving way to indigo and inky black scattered with stars. Chewing on the dried meat Aisla had handed him as the first bright shades of sunset began to paint the sky, and waiting for her to tell him what happened next. If anything more than the same wary watch they'd kept in shifts all day.

"There will be others coming to take up the watch tomorrow, and we return to the summer pastures for an eight-night." Aisla came to stand at the stone across from him, leaning against it as she watched him for a long moment. "They usually come for those that escape before an eight-night is past. If there are no alarms on the next watch, I would say you should be safe as ever we are."

"And what can I do then?" Paul swallowed the piece of meat, giving her a direct look. "I don't want to just take up your hospitality."

"Learn how to heard sheep, how to hunt. How to use the weapons taken from the soulless guardians." Aisla brushed her cloak back to let the strange weapon show. "It is simple to use, and easier to aim than a staff."

"More compact and quieter, as well, I'd imagine."

"Yes, there is that as well." Aisla shrugged. "It is the weapon we choose, when we have what is needed to use it. If there have been no demons in long enough for the power to run out of them, we use bows."

"Would I be allowed the chance to repay you by keeping watch?" Offering to do that felt right, and Paul hoped that the answer would be yes.

"It is not for me to say, I am not the one who sets the watches. I think, though, it would be best to wait to ask that until you have given your soul a chance to heal some. And have proven your ability to use bow and the weapon."

Paul nodded, wrapping his cloak a little tighter around him as he settled on the ground with his back to the stone to rest until Aisla nudged him awake.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 10 January 2009.


End file.
